Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Truth be told, this New England Clam Chowder Dip is actually
the first soup I’ve ever turned into a dip, but I still stand by my title.
After all, what are soups, if not really thin, hot dips you eat with a spoon?

The point is, while this may be my first soup-to-dip conversion, it’s probably
not going to be my last. I’m looking at you, Mulligatawny.

I thought I was inventing something new here, but of course,
like everything else, many people had already given this a go. The funny thing
was, every recipe I looked at called for this to be served with sliced bread,
which I thought was odd. To me, potatoes are like the second or third best ingredient
in a chowder, so why not serve this with chips?

Besides that, my other big improvement was to up the bacon
content. Some recipes called for as little as two slices. Two slices of
bacon? What am I supposed to do with
that? So, I went with three times as much, and it turned out to be a very good
decision. While quite “bacon forward,” the clam flavor still came through, and
all in all, this really was very chowder-like.

The only semi out-of-the-ordinary ingredient used was a
spice blend called, “Old Bay.” This is not very hard to find in the big grocery
stores, but just in case, here is a link to make a your own. Besides, even if
you have some in the pantry, it may have been there for quite sometime, and
while Old Bay works well, old, Old Bay may not, so it might not be a bad idea
to make a batch anyway.Either way, I
really do hope you give this a great hot dip a try soon. Enjoy!

21 comments:

So a couple years ago I was at this cute little boutique chocolate shop in Frederick, MD. They had some truffles flavored with Old Bay seasoning. I bought one, popped it in my mouth, and immediately realized I just made a terrible decision.

In retrospect, maybe if they had gone easier with the seasoning it MAY have worked. But they didn't. It was like swallowing a teaspoon-full of Old Bay seasoning wrapped in chocolate. My friends laughed at me for being such a fool. And took pictures.

Old Bay is popular for a reason but it doesn't pair well with chocolate. If somebody tells you otherwise you should punch them in the FACE.

This seems wonderful (Patriots-denigrating humor aside)! I will make it tomorrow for a practice run. The final version will be brought to a Patriots fan club Super Bowl watching event in Pasadena, CA on Sunday, where appreciative members will devour it ... and yes, there are multitudes of Die Hard Pats fans here in SoCal!

I shall most likely leave out the ‘new’ Old Bay, as those spices are sharply inconsistent with New England clam chowder as traditionally prepared. I do suppose cheese needs to be in a ‘dip’ rendition of said chowdah, but might even try a batch without the cheddar, just to see... I am, after all, the Bel(le) of my Belichick dip. Your puffed potato pops inspiration is brilliant as the ‘chip’ accompaniment!!

Thank you for this, and for all you do to teach, coach, and inspire so many of us to be great cooks.

Must try this and 'Old Bay's a new one for me. As for your pronunciation of 'Worcestershire', nice try but still no coconut CJ! Phoenetically it's 'wuss-turr-shurr'. I know because the county in question is right next to mine, Shropshire, over here in the UK. So go on, amaze your friends and audience with this vital information. Biggest and best food wishes from SHREWsbury, Shropshire.

Just took this dish out of the oven and it isn't going to last long! The smell...oh! Heaven. I mixed it up just a bit and used a whole pound of thick cut bacon and an extra can of minced clams. Used Dubliner, an Irish cheddar cheese, and it matches up perfectly. Thank you, Chef, for a delightful dish!

Finally made this tonight. Forgot the celery( doh!) and added some chopped mushrooms. Kept the juice of one of the cans of clams in the mix and it came out great. Not sure the mushrooms did much for it but it was very yummy!

I recently discovered another use for Old Bay seasoning that does not involve chocolate: season root veggies with it prior to roasting them. Salt and pepper too, but that is a given. Try it and you might love it.

Thanks again for our inspirational recipes. For two weeks running we've hosted game night (no, not like the movie nobody actually died) at our house. When I host I always make snacks and you're page is where I always go for inspiration. I made both your new dips, Philly and New England, and they were a huge success. As always, my most requested appetizer/snack/main are the Eggplant Sandwiches from a few years ago. Most popular filling combinations are: Ham/Prov; Turkey/Swiss and Tomato/Prov/Basil leaf.